I've been using this idea for a while, with a slightly different option set. It has worked perfectly for what I use it for. You can even save a session to a multisession Puppy CD or DVD. The extra session(s) don't affect Puppy at all; Puppy ignores them when it boots. You then mount the multisession Puppy disk and presto, there's your directory.

It gets even better. If you use the same directory name each session you save, and that directory contains directories and files, all the directories and files you saved under the main directory name will show up in that directory no matter which session they were saved (unless they have the same name - more on that below.)

For example, I convert books on CD to mp3 so I can listen to them at work on my mp3 player. I use Puppy's PBcdripper to do the converting, saving to /tmp/mp3_books/Name_of_Author/Name_of_book, which I then save to a multisession DVD created for the purpose, with this command:

I have a DVD on which I've so far saved about 10 books, each saved in a separate session. When I mount the DVD, the only directory (folder) that shows is "mp3_books." When I open it, all ten authors are there as though they were saved all at once instead of in separate sessions. Inside each author folder is a book - sometimes more than one, each saved in a separate session. One book was split between two sessions (I had to go to work before the book was finished) but all its mp3 tracks show up combined as though they were saved in one session.

Even when I look at the DVD in Windows 2000, it works the same. The top directory is "mp3_books" (ALL CAPS in Windows, probably because I didn't use the -J option.) Inside it are the author folders and inside them are the book folders containing the actual mp3 files.

I hope I've made this combining or transparency propery of multisession clear, because I think it is a very useful feature of multisession which multisession Puppy could put to good use.

I think that if you record sessions containing files or directories with the same name, only the last one you recorded will show when you mount the disk. The earlier ones are obviously still on the disk, they just aren't shown. I don't know if it is the OS or the DVD drive which is responsible.Last edited by Flash on Thu 25 Dec 2008, 16:01; edited 2 times in total

I should mention that I don't have a laptop. From what people have reported in this forum, multisession almost always works on desktops, but noticeably less than always on laptops. I've not seen a definitive explanation of why. Some people have theorized that the problem is caused by the unique and peculiar hardware used in laptops._________________Puppy Help 101 - an interactive tutorial for Lupu 5.25

Just to complete my description of how this works, here's a screenshot of the various components. First, the rxvt window with the growisofs command to burn a new session which contains two files, 5_8 and 6_8 in directory "/tmp/Grisham/The_Runaway_Jury", to the DVD in a session to be named "The_Runaway_Jury"

Yesterday I had burned to the same DVD a session with the same name (The_Runaway_Jury) which contained all the files except 5_8 and 6_8 (which I decided to redo with Precord, to reduce the amount of silence after the tape runs out.) Notice that when the DVD is mounted, only one folder (or session) with the name "The_Runaway_Jury" appears, and when you look inside it, it contains all the files from both sessions! This works no matter how many sessions you record, as long as you give them all the same name.

When I tried to add sessions using Pburn, giving them the same name, they showed up as separate sessions when the DVD was mounted.

Anyone know what the effects of "/" is behind the folder name that is added to the CD/DVD. For example, what's the difference between @flash's

Code:

growisofs ... mp3_books=/tmp/mp3_books

and @tony's

Code:

growisofs ... dec06/=/root/pictures/dec06

I have 2 questions
For example, If I entered growisofs ... mp3_books/=/tmp/mp3_books would I achieve the same thing?
Also, using @Flash's example, growisofs will create a "new" folder, if one does NOT exist, on the DVD....right???

Edited last question: Right/yes it will._________________Get ACTIVE Create Circles; Do those good things which benefit people's needs!
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3 Different Puppy Search Engineor use DogPileLast edited by gcmartin on Fri 09 Jul 2010, 13:42; edited 3 times in total

What seems to me to happen is that the first time the command is used, it creates a new directory on the DVD. After that, each time I add something to the same directory in a new session using the command, whatever I added shows up in the directory (in ROX anyway) when I mount the DVD. Put another way, when I mount the DVD, only one instance of the directory shows in ROX, and it contains everything I've recorded onto the DVD in separate sessions under that directory.

Sorry I don't feel at all qualified to answer your other questions. My guess is, it will make no difference whether that last / is there or not. If you have a DVD+RW you can find out the answer very easily yourself.

Posted: Fri 09 Jul 2010, 13:50 Post subject:
Any ideas on how to add something to the DVD's root ("/")

I want to add a file to the LiveDVD's root ("/"). Any ideas on how to use "growisofs" to do this?
EDITED THIS POST: Never mind, I found that if you do NOT include a folder-name,it will get written to the root of the DVD.
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3 Different Puppy Search Engineor use DogPile

Do you mean an individual file instead of a folder? I thought the folders I was writing with this technique were being written to the / of the DVD. There can be no higher level than what you first see when you mount the DVD, can there?

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3 Different Puppy Search Engineor use DogPileLast edited by gcmartin on Sat 11 Jun 2011, 14:52; edited 1 time in total

I am trying to understand the steps in managing a LiveDVD/LiveCD. This is being done as I am trying to build on a base LiveCD by adding OpenOffice SFS so that the boot process can discover it as the system is booting.
Edited: By following the example in the prior post, one can add individual files to the root ("/" or topmost folder) of the multi-session media.

This is very interesting. I have thought somewhat along the same lines, but rather than running programs from a DVD+RW disk, I thought about storing applications, along with their deps, in a multisession directory, using cheap CD/DVD -R disks. They will not be launched at bootup, but always be available and ready to be installed in seconds. Mainly for large programs that make your puppy slow booting, or all the man and info files, all things you rarely use but want to have ready when the occasion demand them. I especially think about those times without a net access, so programs cannot be downloaded. Just mount the disk and click apps to install, after work the results can also be stored in the same multisession dir, still keeping the puppy on the live CD/DVD small and fast-booting.

So the question is if the method with one dir name also work in multisession on a -R disk, or do you have to use +RW disks? As long as there is no overwrite necessary, I would think it may work (I'm out of disks, so I cannot try!!)

There is also the possibility to use /archive to store stuff you don't want to load at bootup, but then you have to save the session - which you may not want to do - and I also think the /archive files are dated each time, so they will multiply.

Tallboy.

Edited: I did not notice that the screenshot above was from a multisession DVD, so my question is already answered!

Tallboy, multisession Puppy will run from any kind of DVD (except DVD-RAM.) DVD+ is said (mostly by Sony, who developed it) to be technically superior to DVD-, but I've never been able to see any difference. If you want to experiment, I recommend a rewritable DVD. Again DVD+RW is said to be technically superior, but I've used both +RW and -RW and I didn't see any difference in performance. Also, some of the 1.4 GB rewritable mini-DVDs that were developed for video cameras have a scratch resistant coating, making them perfect for experimenting with multisession Puppy.

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